Planning on buying a Powerball ticket? Consider this first...

The Enterprise and The Associated Press

Updated 11:36 am, Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Photo: Guiseppe Barranco, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

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Charles Rice looks over his Powerball ticket while Kaylynn Murry operates the cash register at a U.S. 69 gas station on Tuesday in Beaumont. Players of today's $500 million Powerball have a 1 in 175 million chance in winning the jack pot.
Photo taken Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise less

Charles Rice looks over his Powerball ticket while Kaylynn Murry operates the cash register at a U.S. 69 gas station on Tuesday in Beaumont. Players of today's $500 million Powerball have a 1 in 175 million ... more

Photo: Guiseppe Barranco, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

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Cars travel Tuesday past a sign announcing today's $500 million Powerball game. Players have a 1 in 175 million chance in winning the jack pot.
Photo taken Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise less

Cars travel Tuesday past a sign announcing today's $500 million Powerball game. Players have a 1 in 175 million chance in winning the jack pot.
Photo taken Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Guiseppe Barranco/The ... more

Photo: Guiseppe Barranco, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

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Players of today's $500 million Powerball have a 1 in 175 million chance in winning the jack pot.
Photo taken Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise

Players of today's $500 million Powerball have a 1 in 175 million chance in winning the jack pot.
Photo taken Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise

Photo: Guiseppe Barranco, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Planning on buying a Powerball ticket? Consider this first...

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Note: As of almost noon Wednesday, the jackpot was raised to $550 million.

Eight months after a trio of ticket buyers split a $656 million Mega Millions jackpot to set a world lottery record, Powerball is offering up a prize that would be the second highest.

The $500 million jackpot, the largest in Powerball's history, will be drawn tonight.

Chuck Strutt, executive director of Multi-State Lottery Association, predicts there's about a 60 percent chance it'll happen. The jackpot already has defied long odds by rolling over 16 consecutive times without anyone hitting the big prize.

What do you really win?

The estimated jackpot is $500 million, which equates to around $327 million cash value.

What are your odds of winning?

It's true to say that you have a better chance of being struck by lightning than winning the Powerball. Tim Norfolk, a University of Akron mathematics professor who teaches a course on gambling, puts the odds of a lightning strike in a person's lifetime at 1 in 5,000. The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot: 1 in 175 million.

What are your odds of winning the jackpot solo?

The odds of someone winning increase as the ticket sales do. So, too, do the odds of duplicate tickets, especially for people who choose their own numbers rather than letting the computers pick. Prefer the lucky numbers of seven or 11? You're not alone. How about a loved one's birthday? It's 31 or lower - digits more frequently duplicated than 32 and up. (There are 59 white balls and 35 red balls in the draw). In March, three tickets from Kansas, Maryland and Illinois split the world-record $656 million Mega Millions jackpot.

Where is Powerball played?

In 42 states - including Texas and Lousiana - Washington D.C. and the Virgin Islands.

How much money will go to those states?

Lottery experts estimate that there will be $214 million in sales for tonight's drawing (up from $140 million from Saturday's drawing). Half the proceeds go to the prize pool - about a third of that to the big jackpot, with the rest to lower ones, including a new $1 million second prize. The other half goes to the lottery operations in the 42 states plus Washington, D.C., and the Virgin Islands. This funds charitable efforts such as education, in addition to paying for overhead and compensating winning stores.

How do we know the game isn't rigged?

The balls used in the game are regularly measured, weighed and X-rayed. Then they're locked up in a room that's under 24/7 surveillance. Only the organizers and their auditors have a key.

n Alica Wolfford Almaraz wrote: I'll waste a $1 or $2....cant win if you don't play

n Kenton Romero wrote: I am not. But if I did buy and won, I would First buy some land.

n Stephanie Grant wrote of potential winnings: And after giving god his share, the church their's then i would like to donate a portion to some other place, salvation army etc. i would purchase a lot and open up a family business..

n Tori Dillard wrote in response to Cheryl Bertrand's post: Geez Mom you are so thoughtful!! Bahahahahaha. :-)

Source: Facebook.com/ bmtenterprise

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